Handicapping the Dunk Contest with NBA 2K13 - SteveM's Blog

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Handicapping the Dunk Contest with NBA 2K13 Stuck

Posted on February 14, 2013 at 09:14 AM.

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This year�s crop of Slam Dunk Contest participants might not have the star power of Vince Carter, Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins in their primes, but don�t sleep on these six players. Jeremy Evans from the Utah Jazz returns to defend his title and Gerald Green won the event in 2007 and was the runner-up in 2008. So let�s handicap the field, looking at their abilities, dunk packages and signature skills in NBA 2K13.

ERIC BLEDSOE
Dunk Rating: 72
Vertical: 88
Height: 6�1�
Go-To Dunk Package: Basic Two-Handers off Two
Rim Grazers off One
Basic One-Handers off One
Athletic One-Handers off One
Fist Pump Rim Pulls
Leaning Slams

NBA 2K13 doesn�t afford Bledsoe much of a chance. With the lowest Dunk Rating and the second lowest Vertical of the six competitors, plus the fewest dunk packages, Bledsoe will have to rely on his height disadvantage to make his dunks seem bigger. That said, he�s an incredibly well-built and athletic player, although his highlight clip from NBA.com doesn�t show very much creativity. He�ll have to show something more than high jumping if he wants to walk away with the trophy here.

JEREMY EVANS
Dunk Rating: 90
Vertical: 89
Height: 6�9�
Go-To Dunk Package: Basic Two-Handers off Two
Under Basket Athletic Flushes
Under Basket One Handers
Rim Grazers off Two
Bigman One-Handers off Two
Athletic One-Handers off Two
Bigman Tomahawks off Two
Bigman Back Scratchers
Bigman Baseline Reverses
Bigman Windmills

Evans is returning after winning the Slam Dunk Contest last year (probably the reason for his Highlight Film Sig Skill), but be honest: Can you remember one dunk he did? He�s sort of weirdly the only player in this group whose Dunk Rating exceeds his Vertical, maybe because he�s the tallest competitor. His win last year was more a testament to how weak the field overall was. I doubt he wins it this time around.

KENNETH FARIED
Dunk Rating: 79
Vertical: 80
Height: 6�8�
Go-To Dunk Package: Basic Two Handers Off One
Under Basket Rim Pulls
Under Basket Big Man Slams
Bigman One-Handers Off Two
Bigman Tomahawks Off Two
Bigman Baseline Reverses
Bigman Windmills

With the second fewest dunk packages and unimpressive numbers in both Dunk Rating and Vertical, Faried doesn�t stand much of a chance. It seems that he�s likely to fall prey to the �good in-game dunker, weak in the dunk contest� problem that dogged players like Amar�e Stoudemire (whose dunk off the header from Steve Nash was wildly underrated). I�m not even sure Faried is even all that great of a dunker in games, but he has a ton of energy. Maybe if he brings JaVale McGee with him he�ll have a chance.

GERALD GREEN
Dunk Rating: 90
Vertical: 97
Height: 6�8�
Go-To Dunk Package: Leaning Slams
Under Basket Athletic Flushes
Under Basket One Handers
Basic One-Handers off Two
Athletic One-Handers off One
Athletic One-Handers off Two
Quick Drops
Athletic Side Tomahawks
Uber Athletic Tomahawks off Two
Clutch Baseline Reverses
Side Windmills
Two-Hand Spin Dunks
Athletic 360s off Two

After playing his way back into the NBA with the New Jersey Nets last season, Green signed with the Indiana Pacers in the offseason, and while the return on their investment hasn�t been great (his PER is less than half what it was last year and most of his stats are down across the board), Green can still dunk the bumps off the ball. His in-game Dunk Rating is tied for highest with Evans and White, plus his Vertical is tied for highest with Ross. Anyone who�s used Green knows he�s prone to self-alley-oops and all kinds of wild stuff, given his Highlight Film Signature Skill and diverse array of dunk packages. With 13 different packages, he has the most diverse array of options and is the only player with Athletic 360s off Two and Two-Hand Spin Dunks. At least as far as NBA 2K13 goes, Green is the odds-on favorite to win. Plus don�t forget that he pulled off one of the Dunk Contest�s all-time greatest prop dunks, the cupcake dunk. He also had maybe the best in-game dunk of the season last year.

TERRENCE ROSS
Dunk Rating: 84
Vertical: 97
Height: 6�6�
Go-To Dunk Package: Basic Two-Handers off Two
Rim Grazers off Two
Basic One Handers off Two
Athletic One Handers off Two
Uber Athletic Tomahawks off Two
Quick Drop-In Back Scratchers
Reverses Off Two
Baseline Reverses Off Two
Basic 360s

Ross has the third lowest Dunk Rating of the group, but is also tied for highest Vertical with Gerald Green, plus his nine different packages include some doozies, like Uber Athletic Tomahawks off Two and Basic 360s. He�s also a little shorter than White and Green, and�as Nate Robinson demonstrated�shorter is better for showcasing dunks. If you�re not convinced Ross has a shot, just check out this: a put-back tomahawk slam and an open-court windmill.

JAMES WHITE
Dunk Rating: 90
Vertical: 91
Height 6�7�
Go-To Dunk Package: Leaning Slams
Under Basket Athletic Flushes
Basic One-Handers off One
Basic Two-Handers off One
Basic One-Handers off Two
Athletic One-Handers off One
Athletic Two-Handers off Two
Quick Drops
Athletic Side Tomahawks

James White is the most underrated dunker by NBA 2K13, which isn�t a total surprise since he was a late addition to the game and was clearly built with the Create-A-Player function rather than designed from the ground up. But you just can�t ignore a guy who had his own signature dunk package in NBA 2K when he wasn�t even in the league. White�s go-to slams aren�t even really in the game: jumping from the free throw line while putting it between his legs and a whirligig windmill (you can see these and more here). And yes, he�s now 30 and has probably lost some of the near-legendary hops he displayed in high school and college, but he�s also been winning dunk contests for years and years. He knows how to do these things. NBA 2K13 doesn�t seem to favor him heavily, but I think this is his dunk contest to lose.

NBA 2K13's predicted finish: 1. Gerald Green 2. Terrence Ross 3. James White 4. Jeremy Evans 5. Eric Bledsoe 6. Kenneth Faried

My prediction: 1. James White 2. Gerald Green 3. Eric Bledsoe 4. Terrence Ross 5. Jeremy Evans 6. Kenneth Faried

Comments

# 1 ProtatoPie @ Feb 14

I know Flight White is a really great dunker. Heck, He and Green even banged heads a few years ago in Russia.

But I'm not really going to lean on him first 100%.

I'm gonna take Faried last, then Bledsoe, then Evans, then Ross, then White and Green going to taking the crown.

That's only prediction